New EU Innovation Plan to Boost 'Creative Clusters'

EurActiv - Officials charged with drafting Europe's first 'innovation act' are looking at ways to boost creative clusters, which are seen as a driver of innovation and job creation...."Exchange of best practice is not enough. Networking is necessary but what we need is partnerships and business support services. We are developing better support systems for the innovative services industry."

A fundamental problem for creative industries, according to the EU official, is access to finance. While all start-ups have struggled to secure bank loans in recent times, this has proven to be a particular challenge for knowledge-based companies whose only capital is their creativity. Durvy said the EU executive would like to develop more public-private partnerships (PPPs) and to cooperate more with the EIF on finding ways to support the creative sector.